Interactive
UK – SG records 53 per cent uplift in bets through Cheltenham Festival
By Lewis - 22 March 2021
Last week’s Cheltenham Festival was highly anticipated to generate strong betting volumes, and figures from Scientific Games’ OpenSports platform experienced an increase of more than 50 per cent compared to 2020.
Compared to the 2020 event, Scientific Games reported total bets of close to 70m placed across the UK’s sportsbook operators and total stakes across the festival were up 34 per cent with average stake for singles in all Win & Each Way markets remaining largely consistent per last year at £7.50.
Total account transactions was 470m, up 44 per cent on 2020. One OpenSports partner operator processed a peak of over 34,000 bets per minute.
The OpenSports platform powers sportsbook operators including Flutter Entertainment’s Betfair, Paddy Power and Sky Bet, William Hill, as well as Entain brands Ladbrokes and Coral.
Keith O’Loughlin, SVP Sportsbook, Scientific Games Digital, commented:: “These figures further demonstrate the power of our platform, with its scalability and reliability once again delivering high-level performance across one of the biggest sporting events.
“Despite the significant increase in activity, it was very much business as usual as our team and technology coped under the huge demand from bettors. Our job is to give our operator partners the confidence that they can deliver a great service and grow their business without the worry of system downtime.
“This year’s Festival saw betting behaviour evolve and more players than ever before embrace the online space. The average stake levels indicate the recreational and entertainment value of this racing event and we’re proud of the role OpenSports has played during the Festival in offering such a wide audience a truly entertaining experience.”
